1.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s

2.
Springfield, Massachusetts
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Springfield is a city in western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers, the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern Mill River. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 153,060. Metropolitan Springfield, as one of two areas in Massachusetts, had an estimated population of 698,903 as of 2009. The first Springfield in the New World, it is the largest city in Western New England, and the urban, economic and it is the third-largest city in Massachusetts and fourth-largest in New England after Boston, Worcester, and Providence. Hartford, the capital of Connecticut, lies 23.9 miles south of Springfield, bradley International Airport, which sits 12 miles south of Metro Center Springfield, is Hartford-Springfields airport. Springfield was founded in 1636 by English Puritan William Pynchon as Agawam Plantation under the administration of the Connecticut Colony, in 1641 it was renamed after Pynchons hometown of Springfield, Essex, England, following incidents that precipitated the settlement joining the Massachusetts Bay Colony. From 1777 until its closing during the Vietnam War, the Springfield Armory attracted skilled laborers to Springfield, arsenal at Springfield during Shays Rebellion of 1787 led directly to the formation of the U. S. Springfield is located at 42°6′45″N 72°32′51″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 33.2 square miles, of which 32.1 square miles is land and 1.1 square miles is water. Once nicknamed The City in a Forest, Springfield features over 4, aside from its rivers, Springfields 2nd most prominent topographical feature is the citys 735 acres Forest Park, designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Forest Park also borders Western Massachusetts most affluent town, Longmeadow, Springfield shares borders with other well-heeled suburbs such as East Longmeadow, Wilbraham, Ludlow and the de-industrializing city of Chicopee. The small cities of Agawam and West Springfield, Massachusetts lie less than a mile from Springfields Metro Center, across the Connecticut River. The City of Springfield also owns the Springfield Country Club, which is located in the city of West Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield, like other cities in southern New England, has a continental climate with four distinct seasons. Winters are cold with a average in January of around 26 °F. During winter, noreaster storms can drop significant snowfalls on Springfield, Springfields summers are very warm and sometimes humid. During summer, several times per month, on hot days afternoon thunderstorms will develop when unstable warm air collides with approaching cold fronts, the daily average in July is around 74 °F. Usually several days during the summer exceed 90 °F, constituting a heat wave, Spring and fall temperatures are usually pleasant, with mild days and crisp, cool nights

3.
YMCA
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The Young Mens Christian Association is a worldwide organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 57 million beneficiaries from 125 national associations. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London and aims to put Christian principles into practice by developing a body, mind. These three angles are reflected by the different sides of the triangle—part of all YMCA logos, from its inception, it grew rapidly and ultimately became a worldwide movement founded on the principles of Muscular Christianity. YMCAs continue to be religious organisations, many national or local organisations de-emphasise this aspect, the different local YMCAs are voluntarily affiliated through their national organisations. The national organisations in turn are part of both an Area Alliance and the World Alliance of YMCAs, the World Alliances main motto is empowering young people. It was associated with industrialisation and the movement of people to cities to work. The YMCA combined preaching in the streets and the distribution of religious tracts with a social ministry, philanthropists saw them as places for wholesome recreation that would preserve youth from the temptations of alcohol, gambling, and prostitution and that would promote good citizenship. The YMCA was founded by George Williams, a London draper and he and his colleagues were concerned about the lack of healthy activities for young men in major cities, the options available were usually taverns and brothels. By 1851, there were YMCAs in the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. In 1855,99 YMCA delegates from Europe and North America met in Paris at the First World Conference of YMCAs and they discussed joining together in a federation to enhance cooperation amongst individual YMCA societies. This marked the beginning of the World Alliance of YMCAs, the conference adopted the Paris Basis, a common mission for all present and future national YMCAs. Its motto was taken from the Bible, That they all may be one, in 1865 The Fourth World Conference of YMCAs, held in Germany, affirmed the importance of developing the whole individual in body, mind, and spirit. The concept of work through sports, a new concept for the time, was also recognised as part of this muscular Christianity. Today the YMCA is more focused on inspiring youths and their families to exercise, in 1878, World Alliance of YMCAs offices were established in Geneva, Switzerland. Later, in 1900, North American YMCAs, in collaboration with the World Alliance, set up centres to work with emigrants in European ports, as millions of people were leaving for the USA. In 1885, Camp Baldhead, the first residential camp in the United States and North America, was established by A. Sanford and Sumner F. Dudley, both of whom worked for the YMCA. The camp, originally located near Orange Lake in New Jersey, moved to Lake Wawayanda in Sussex County the following year, by 1910, the YMCA was an early influence upon scouting, including the Boy Scouts of America and German Scouting. Edgar M. Robinson, a Chicago-area YMCA administrator, briefly left the YMCA to become the BSAs first director, the Blue Ridge Association for Christian Conferences and Training was formed in 1907, and shortly thereafter built the Blue Ridge Assembly conference centre

4.
James Naismith
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James Naismith was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, chaplain, sports coach and innovator. He invented the game of basketball at age 30 in 1891 and he wrote the original basketball rule book and founded the University of Kansas basketball program. Seven years after inventing basketball, Naismith received his degree in Denver in 1898. He then arrived at the University of Kansas, later becoming the Kansas Jayhawks athletic director, while a coach at Kansas, Naismith coached Phog Allen, who later became the coach at Kansas for 39 seasons, beginning a lengthy and prestigious coaching tree. Allen then went on to coach legends including Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith, among others, Naismith was born in 1861 in Almonte, Ontario, Canada to Scottish immigrants. He never had a name and never signed his name with the A initial. The A was added by someone in the administration at the University of Kansas, orphaned early in his life, Naismith lived with his aunt and uncle for many years and attended grade school at Bennies Corners near Almonte. Then he enrolled in Almonte High School, in Almonte, Ontario, in the same year, Naismith entered McGill University in Montreal. He played center on the team, and made himself some padding to protect his ears. It was for use, not team use. He won multiple Wicksteed medals for outstanding gymnastics performances, Naismith earned a BA in Physical Education and a Diploma at the Presbyterian College in Montreal. At Springfield YMCA, Naismith struggled with a class that was confined to indoor games throughout the harsh New England winter. In his attempt to think up a new game, Naismith was guided by three main thoughts, firstly, he analyzed the most popular games of those times, Naismith noticed the hazards of a ball and concluded that the big soft soccer ball was safest. Secondly, he saw that most physical contact occurred while running with the ball, dribbling or hitting it, finally, Naismith further reduced body contact by making the goal unguardable, namely placing it high above the players heads. To score goals, he forced the players to throw a soft lobbing shot that had proven effective in his old favorite game duck on a rock, Naismith christened this new game Basket Ball and put his thoughts together in 13 basic rules. The first game of Basket Ball was played in December 1891, stubbins brot up the peach baskets to the gym I secured them on the inside of the railing of the gallery. This was about 10 feet from the floor, one at end of the gymnasium. I then put the 13 rules on the board just behind the instructors platform, secured a soccer ball

5.
2006 in basketball
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The following are the basketball events of the year 2006 throughout the world. Tournaments include international, professional and amateur and collegiate levels, Finals MVP, Lordy Tugade Purefoods Chunkee Giants over Red Bull Barako 4-2 in the Philippine Cup Finals. Only three matches were played, under Turkish rules, Ülker was granted a 1-0 lead by virtue of its regular-season sweep of Efes